


Models

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Comment Fic 2016 [16]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: High School AU, M/M, Teen AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7058521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Any (please no SPN) author's choice, AU where the most qualified character can't get a fucking job."</p><p>Rodney McKay, teen prodigy, cannot get a job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Models

Rodney stared at the blinking message light on his machine. Pressed play. Listened again.  
  
Unbelievable. He was seventeen years old, had graduated from high school at sixteen, and just finished his freshman year at CalTech as a double physics and engineering major. He was literally a genius.  
  
But apparently he was unhireable at every fast-food institution, every retail institution, and every service institution in a twenty-mile radius of his apartment.  
  
What. The hell.  
  
He slumped down on the couch and stared at the wall for a long moment. He needed a job, needed money to cover his living expenses during summer semester, because his scholarship only covered fall and spring semester, and if he wanted to graduate in a timely fashion, he had to take summer classes.  
  
In a fit of desperation, he called Radek, who probably had an even worse time trying to find a job because he was a foreign national.  
  
“Have you found your summer job?”  
  
“Yes,” Radek said.  
  
Rodney threw his empty bag of cheese puffs at the wall. “Where? How?”  
  
“At the shopping mall, as a shopping escort.”  
  
“I’m sorry, come again?”  
  
“Come down to the mall. Meet me at the food court. I will explain.”  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Rodney stared at the room full of other teenage boys in something akin to horror. He leaned over and hissed at Radek, “This is borderline prostitution!”  
  
“Hardly,” Radek said. “It is a reasonable service, and sometimes you get dates.”  
  
Four boys were sitting on a couch in front of a television and playing video games. According to Radek, their names were John, Cameron, Aiden, and Jonathan, and they were very popular with the girls.  
  
“The _arm candy models_ ,” Radek explained. “Accompany a girl through the mall, carry her shopping bags, be attractive and charming.”  
  
Daniel was sitting the corner and reading a Russian novel _in Russian_. He had dark blond hair and blue eyes and glasses and was the _attractive shy nerd model_. Sitting opposite him was a boy named Evan who was an artist (obvious by the fact that he was sketching Daniel) and was the _gay BFF model_.  
  
“Is he actually gay?” Rodney asked, intrigued by Evan’s blue eyes and his dimples when he laughed at something Daniel said.  
  
“I’m not sure, but apparently he gives great advice on color and style. And he’s an artist, so.” Radek shrugged.  
  
Carson was an exchange student from Scotland and Peter was an exchange student from England, and they were the _James Bond models_.  
  
“Are they secretly spies?”  
  
“No, but they have exotic accents.”  
  
“Where do you fit into all this?”  
  
“I run the appointment book.”  
  
“So you’re our pimp.”  
  
“Clerk.”  
  
“And where would I fit into all of this?”  
  
“We need a _cranky older brother model_ who will carry shopping bags and protect girls from flirtatious boys,” Radek said, consulting his clipboard.  
  
“Like the boys in this room.”  
  
“Only some of them are flirty.”  
  
“How much?”  
  
“Ten an hour.”  
  
“How many hours?”  
  
“Twenty a week. We’ll work around your school schedule.”  
  
Rodney sighed and said, “Fine. Sign me up.” There were worse jobs he could do.

Or so he’d thought, till he’d been on a half dozen shopping trips and had to snarl and snap at other teenage boys (which was usually fun but not when the girl he was with was flirting with said boys and the other boys snapped back and made unfair - if true - insinuations about Rodney’s sexuality and social skills).  
  
When he finally collapsed in one of the chairs in the Green Room, feet sore and head spinning, he was sure he was going to kill Radek. He just had to figure out when and how and how not to get caught.  
  
“First day was rough, huh?” It was John, one of the Arm Candy Army. He had spiky dark hair and bright hazel eyes and a sexy little smirk. The girls loved him. He and Cameron were picked most often.  
  
“I’m not sure there’s going to be a second day,” Rodney said.  
  
“Sure there is. C’mon. Party at my place,” John said.  
  
Rodney blinked. “It’s Wednesday.”  
  
“Yeah. My dad and older brother are both out of town in a business trip. Place is all ours. Every boy is invited.”  
  
Rodney glanced around the room. Most of the other boys were still out on shopping trips. “Does every boy come?”  
  
John leaned in and whispered, “Only if they’re lucky.” He gave Rodney his address and phone number and said, “See you at eleven.”  
  
The mall closed at ten. Rodney had a lecture at eight thirty the next morning. He’d also never been invited to a house party before, and certainly not by a boy like John Sheppard.  
  
He shouldn’t have been surprised that John’s house was in an upscale neighborhood, sprawling and massive behind a wrought-iron fence. A dozen cars were parked outside, and all the lights were on, and Rodney could hear the faintest thumping of bass music from inside. He rang the doorbell, but no one answered, so he took a deep breath and let himself in.  
  
The music was much louder, and there was noise and laughter.  
  
Rodney followed the laughter into the den where all the expensive furniture had been pushed aside to form a dance floor. The entire house was expensive. John’s parents must have been loaded. John himself was nowhere to be seen. Rodney didn’t recognize most of the boys there, like the really tall guy with the dreadlocks and incredible biceps, or the black guy with the baseball cap with the weird gold insignia on it.  
  
He did see Daniel, sitting in a corner with a book open on his knees and sipping from one of those red solo cups. Jonathan was sitting beside him, arm slung over his shoulders and mouthing at Daniel’s neck.  
  
Huhn.  
  
Radek was on the dance floor with Peter and Carson and Aiden, dancing like a maniac.  
  
And Evan - Evan was on Cameron’s lap, hands buried in Cameron’s hair while they kissed and kissed and kissed.  
  
An arm wrapped around Rodney’s waist, and he was pulled back against a lean, hard body.  
  
“You came!” John sounded delighted.  
  
“Uh, yeah,” Rodney said, startled and blushing.  
  
John pressed a kiss to Rodney’s neck and said, “Play your cards right, and you can come again without having to leave the house. Now follow me - there’s some people I want you to meet.”  
  
Maybe there was some benefit to not being able to get a real job after all.


End file.
